I managed to contain the hurricane for the next few weeks. I stuffed parts of myself away and T'Challa had decided I wasn't to treat anyone else including Bucky. I continued my daily life as best as possible.

The night was alive as the city moved and partied the night away. Bucky strode beside me with Steve smiling at all the partying Wakandans.

"This place sure knows how to let loose," Bucky smirked as he took my hand. I had started wearing gloves and itched to feel his skin on mine. I smiled and looked around at the bustling city. The people here were so full of passion.

I perked up when I saw my reflection on a passing window. I looked younger and I seemed to have a glow about me. It was the first time in a while, I didn't see her.

Steve pointed out a bar that he had heard good reviews about from one of T'Challa's guards. Bucky had teased him mercilessly for not asking the woman on a date.

I let Bucky and Steve go get us drinks as I found a seat outside the bar. The bar had expanded out onto the pavement; it had covered the space in benches, chairs and tables. It was crowded but I managed to nab a couple of seats tucked away. I pulled at my gloves and found several eyes on me. Leaning my elbow onto the table, I covered my mouth with my hand and looked out at the street.

"Hey, one beer for the lady," I turned to see a grinning Bucky who was back in his element. I had seen these memories of his dates. I could still access them from time to time. I tried not to blush when he winked at me.

"Thank you," I smiled and took the cold bottle of beer from his hand. He took his seat next to me and snuck an arm around my shoulder.

His skin met mine. I shifted so his forearm no longer connected with the top of my bicep. He gave me a look but before he could ask, Steve started going on about a recent movie marathon he had been encouraged to go on by Antman. He had expanded his knowledge of movie genres and had become a great fan of Indiana Jones.

"I knew you would love that film," I chuckled as he professed his undying love for the franchise. "Right up your street."

"C'mon it's got everything you could ask for," Steve babbled. "Adventure, humour, excitement, love interests."

"You're starting to sound like a girl," Bucky teased, and his arm tightened around me. His skin came back into contact with mine and I shifted again as I took a drink of my beer. I caught his look and just smiled as if nothing was the matter.

"You're just complaining because he didn't watch it with you," I joked, and Bucky's eyebrows crinkled in confusion before he tried to keep smiling.

"I just don't think watching romantic films is a good use of my, or Steve's, time," Bucky said lightly before he took a drink.

"You're just saying that because you've not watched it," Steve grinned. "It's got everything. You need to watch it."

"I think I'll pass," Bucky smirked and moved closer to me again. I leaned out of his touch to rest my arms on the table.

"Don't listen to him Steve," I said. "It's a fantastic series. I keep hoping they'll make another one."

Steve started to gush about the possibility of another film. I listened half-heartedly and started to phase out when the conversation started to move into more typical areas of new technology and new customs.

"I don't understand why everyone sends the eggplant emoji?" Steve seemed bewildered by the texting customs of the 21st century.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I finally came back into the conversation.

"Steve … texted?" Bucky looked at Steve for confirmation who gave a brief nod. "He texted Lang and they had been talking about Tony and…" He glanced at me and struggled to explain this.

"… he texted me back 'hes a' then an eggplant," Steve finished for him. I laughed and then realised they were being serious.

"Lang was saying Tony's a dick," I clarified.

A dawn of realisation crossed Steve's face and he chuckled. Bucky looked at me with a look of wonder.

"An eggplant is a dick," I took another drink and felt full of courage. "A peach is a butt. A cat sometimes means pussy."

Bucky was taking a drink and nearly choked, "What?" He turned his body towards me and looked at me with shock.

"Or sometimes, people send flowers or a honeypot to represent a vagina," I chuckled and tried to stay calm. I would be lying if I said I was uncomfortable explaining sexting emojis to 1940s gentlemen who had woken up in a new time. Bucky exchanged a look with Steve.

"Why would people need to use those emojis?" Steve asked curiously and naively. Bucky shot him a glare.

"To sext," I answered casually. His face was blank, so I continued: "People in the 21st century send flirty and raunchy text messages with people they are dating… most of the time." I shrugged and saw Steve blush profusely. It was strange to see him blush over the start of a beard. I laughed and continued to drink my beer. I could feel both men thinking heavily.

"Is that related to nudes?" Steve asked while he was still blushing.

"Yes and no," I said and avoided Bucky's eyes which were watching me intensely. "A lot of the time people send photos of themselves naked to their partners, but some people abuse that and share them online… sometimes men just send nudes to any woman on dating sites… so it's similar I guess." I shrugged.

Steve sat back and considered this information.

"Dating in our day was a lot more straightforward," Bucky stated. "I would just have to treat a girl to a nice dinner, maybe some dancing. Now it seems to be minefield."

I inhaled and thought about Bucky taking all those girls out before the war. The girls I had seen in his memories were enthralled by his charms.

"It's not that bad," I protested. "Everyone is a lot more open. Being gay is no longer frowned upon in most countries. Now you have people being in relationships with two or more people… It's an openminded time."

"Wow," Steve gasped. "You're right. People don't have to hide who they are anymore."

"Yeah, so I'd take dick emojis and nudes over having to deal with being the perfect woman and not being able to love who I want," I said confidently before taking a drink of my beer.

"You've been with…" Steve's eyes glazed over.

"Yeah," I smirked and felt Bucky squirm next to me.

"This is such a time to be alive," Steve declared and continued to drink his beer.

That seemed to shut Bucky up.

….

When we got back to the complex, I felt Bucky follow me back to my room. He had a cheeky look on his face.

"Can I help you?" I smirked as I spun around on the threshold of my room. Bucky had his hands sheepishly in his jean pockets and was looking up at me from behind his dark eyebrows. He was making avoiding skin contact incredibly difficult.

"Well I was hoping you were going to ask me to stay," Bucky bit his lip as he looked at me charmingly. I could understand why he was so successful with the ladies before hydra.

"Oh, really?" I smiled but my stomach quivered with nerves. I felt panic descend across my skull at the idea of not being to create any distance between us.

"Yeah, I also thought it would be a great time to talk about why you've been acting strange lately," Bucky stated with a suddenly serious turn.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I sighed but walked into my room. He followed and quickly closed the door behind us.

"Since your… episode… you've been avoiding me," Bucky said as he sat down on the bed. I leaned against my dresser and folded my arms. "You started wearing gloves. It's like 50 degrees outside." Bucky sighed. "C'mon you need to tell me what's going through your head."

I bit my lip and felt tears threaten to roll down my face. I sucked in a breath. Looking down at my gloved hands, I tried to form a coherent explanation but then gave up.

"I'm getting worse," I murmured solemnly.

Bucky moved to get up, to comfort me, but I raised my hand sadly. "Stop." I whispered.

"What do you mean you're getting worse?" Bucky asked with his brows wrinkled in confusion and pain.

"I didn't explain properly before," I gulped. "They didn't finish what they did to me, I'm unfinished. The experiments they did to you, to me, to Wanda. They're trial and error. They made an error with mine and they never rectified it. My powers, they're unstable. I'm the human equivalent of a broken switch. Sometimes, I work perfectly fine – I can turn it off but other times, it isn't in my control. When I met you, I was going through a stable period, but I can swing to this phase at a moment's notice with no trigger."

Bucky sat back down and tried to process this. He sighed, and I could feel his worry like a beacon pulling me in. Tendrils of strong intense memories licked at the corner of my mind almost begging me to look.

I shook my head and tried to stay anchored in the moment.

"Can't T'Challa help you?" Bucky asked. "Isn't there something we can do?"

I closed my eyes and sighed, "I would need to complete the experiments. It is the only thing I've not tried."

"No!" Bucky refused and sprung up to grab me by the shoulders but managed to stop himself. His hands were millimetres from making contact.

I opened my eyes and tried to contain the exhaustion inside me.

"I don't know what else to do."